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C4CA Calls for All-Party Support for Power Plant Buffer Zones

OAKVILLE, ON, April 22 /CNW/ - Citizens for Clean Air today called on all Ontario Members of Provincial Parliament to vote in favour of Bill 8, which would prohibit the construction of a natural gas power plant within 1,500 metres of land zoned residential or for a school, day nursery or health care facility.

The Separation Distances for Natural Gas Power Plants Act, 2010, a Private Members Bill introduced by Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, is up for second reading and debate this afternoon.

"People living near major gas-fired generating stations need the protection only a buffer zone can bring," says C4CBoard Chair Frank Clegg. "Only two months ago, a natural gas power plant exploded in Middletown, CT killing six people and blowing out windows three kilometres away. If that were to happen at the proposed Oakville site, such an accident could be catastrophic. Only a buffer zone can protect people. We ask everyone in the Ontario legislature to lend their support for this important safety initiative."

The Middletown gas plant site was 137 acres and located across the river from a densely populated area. The proposed Oakville gas-fired generating station is 50 per cent larger and the site is only 13.5 acres, with 1,000 homes within one kilometre. Based on current Ontario legislation, a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine would not be permitted at this location.

Concerns about the proximity of gas power plants are not limited to Ontario. In Shreveport, LA, the Fire Chief is lobbying to move the town's main fire hall and administrative offices, built only five years ago, because they are too close to a new 508 megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. "If there is a catastrophic event at this station, which is the main fire station for the city, (would be) unable to respond, because we can't get out," Shreveport Fire Chief Brian Crawford told local media. "If we had any inclination that they were actually going to build this huge plant here, we would have never chosen this site."

The site for the proposed 975 megawatt gas-fired power plant in Oakville is only 320 metres from the nearest school and 400 metres to homes in a mature neighbourhood. The narrow piece of land on which the gas plant, with 60 metre stacks, would sit, is adjacent to some of the busiest commuter rail and roadways in the Province. There is widespread opposition to the plant at this location, including representatives at every level of government and the Chief Medical Officers of Health for Halton and Peel regions.

Citizens for Clean Air is a coalition thousands-strong of volunteer citizens concerned with the Ontario Government's planto construct a 975-megawatt gas-fired power plant on the border of Oakville and Mississauga.